New York’s Apple Group Launches Consumer Website

With start of the 2014 New York state apple harvest just weeks away, New York state apple fans have a great new source for apple information at their fingertips: NYAppleCountry.com.

The updated website from New York Apple Association offers more of the information that consumers want, such as a variety guide, recipes and interactive maps to help find local suppliers of apples and cider. All that new information comes with a colorful, friendly new look and down-to-earth feel, with more pictures and videos.

“Most of the visitors to our site want to learn more about New York state varieties, to get recipes and to find a local supplier – so we literally put that information front and center on the new site,” says Jim Allen, president of NYAA. “The updated site is also smartphone- and tablet-friendly, so you can access it wherever you are, however you want to.”

Also front and center on the updated site is a “buy local” message, says Allen. “New York state is the country’s second largest apple-producing state, so New Yorkers don’t need to look any further than right here to find great apples.”

The refreshed site features:

profiles on 24 of New York state’s top apple varieties, including Honeycrisp, McIntosh and Gala;

almost 100 recipes using apples or apple products (29 of which are desserts!);

facts about the New York apple industry and apples in general, as well as frequently asked questions (yes, bagged apples are just as good as apples sold loose);

“Our goal is to be New York state apple fans’ ‘go to’ resource for apple information, so we’ve provided everything we think they’ll want in one attractive, easy to use site,” adds Allen.

To source photos for the updated site’s Recipe section, NYAA is turning to crowdsourcing. The association invites New York apple fans to submit photos of website recipes that they have prepared; photographers will be credited on the recipe’s page, and recognized on NYAA’s Facebook page.

“We know that with food, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words, so we are hoping that our fans will help us add photos to the Recipe section,” says Allen. “We know cooks tend to be competitive too, we are counting on that.”